English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For October 24/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves
If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit.
Letter to the Galatians 06/01-10/:’My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbour’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads. Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 23-4/2021
Berri calls joint House committees to convene Tuesday over election law
US Congress Says Hezbollah Stokes Sectarian Violence, Supports Corruption within Lebanon
Lebanese president returns electoral law to parliament
Lebanon: Expediting Parliamentary Elections Threatens to Deprive 200,000 People From Voting
Two Years after Protests, Lebanon Activists Set Sights on Vote
Lebanon… The Framework is Stronger than the Rockets
The bird in the hand/Ana Maria Luca/Now Lebanon/October 23/2021
Le peuple est nous et nous sommes le peuple./Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 23/2021

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 23-4/2021
Iran, Syria, ‘fundamentalist Islam,’ on Bennett’s agenda in Russia
Israel Draws Up Training Plan to Attack Military Targets in Iran
Iran Tests Drones Amid Tensions with Azerbaijan
France Urges Iran to Curb Nuclear Activity, Resume Talks
US to Engage Israel over Designation of Palestinian Civil Society Groups as Terrorists
Senior Qaeda Leader Killed in US Drone Strike in Syria
870 ISIS Women, Children Repatriated from Syria
Sudan’s Mass Protests Back Civilian Rule but Army Remains Strong
UNHCR Urges Libya to Urgently Develop Plan for Asylum Seekers, Refugees
Senior al-Qaida Leader Killed in U.S. Drone Strike in Syria
U.S. Seeks to Contain Beijing Anger after Biden Vows Taiwan Defense
Report: Foreign Aid Lost in Syria Exchange Rate Distortions

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 23-4/2021
Syria: Geopolitical Tragedy/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/October 23/2021
A JetBlue Jihadist? The Great Press Cover-up/Chris Farrell/Gatestone Institute/October 23/2021
The Houthis, like other Islamist groups, are destined to fail/Saleh Baidhani/The Arab Weekly/October 23/2021
US, EU: Take note, protect Bitar and Lebanon takes a step to overcome its crises/Hanin Ghaddar/Al Arabiya//October 23/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on October 23-4/2021
Berri calls joint House committees to convene Tuesday over election law
NNA/Saturday, 23 October, 2021 
House Speaker Nabih Berri has called the joint parliamentary committees to convene at 10:30 am Tuesday to discuss a bill amending the electoral law that President Michel Aoun had returned.

US Congress Says Hezbollah Stokes Sectarian Violence, Supports Corruption within Lebanon
Washington - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 23 October, 2021
The US Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives introduced a resolution on Thursday expressing solidarity with the Lebanese people and the continued efforts to form a secure, independent, and democratic Lebanon. Backed by a number of US lawmakers, the resolution was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The lawmakers stressed that security, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Lebanon is in the interest of the United States and its allies in the region. They underlined the US robust assistance for Lebanon, including training and equipment provided for the Lebanese Armed Forces, which it described as the sole institution entrusted with the defense of the sovereignty of Lebanon. The bill accused Iran of undermining Lebanon’s sovereignty and its history as a US partner and democratic actor in the Middle East. “Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah violates United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, stokes sectarian violence, destabilizes the Lebanese economy, and supports corruption and violence within Lebanon and seeks to destroy the pursuit of peace throughout the region,” the lawmakers said. Regarding the 2020 Beirut port explosion, the lawmakers said that the US government has longstanding concerns about Hezbollah’s use of and influence over the Beirut Port as a transit and storage point for its terrorist enterprise. They further called on the Lebanese government to address the root causes of instability and mismanagement that allowed the tragic August 4 blast to take place, including by responding to calls for accountability and reform by the people of Lebanon. “The Government of Lebanon should conduct a credible, impartial, and transparent investigation into the cause of, and responsibility for, the August 4 explosions, and include impartial international experts as part of the investigation team,” they said. The lawmakers backed the US assistance delivered directly to the Lebanese people through properly vetted channels, organizations, and individuals, without risk of diversion to terrorist groups.

Lebanese president returns electoral law to parliament
Najia Houssari/Arab News/October 23, 2021
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Michel Aoun has sent a law amending legislative election rules back to parliament for reconsideration, the presidency said in a statement. Aoun did not sign the law, to which parliament introduced some amendments. He has requested that these amendments be reconsidered. Aoun’s objection comes after the Free Patriotic Movement bloc raised its opposition to holding elections in March instead of May because it “narrows its margins of action.”During the legislative session of Oct. 19, the bloc also objected to proposals to change the expatriate voting formula by canceling the six allocated seats and allowing expatriates to vote for the electoral lists. The FPM sought to allocate these six seats in the electoral law, provided that voting for these representatives would take place in the 2022 elections. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called on the parliamentary committees to convene next Tuesday to discuss Aoun’s response to the electoral law. Observers described these developments as a sign of a political struggle for the presidency. The parliament to be elected in March is expected to pick the new president after Aoun’s term ends in October. In the decree in which he requested a review of the amendments, Aoun said that “shortening the constitutional deadline for the elections could prevent voters from being able to exercise their electoral right due to the natural and climatic factors that often prevail in March, making it impossible for voters to reach their polling stations, not to mention the cost of transportation and the inability to supply polling stations with electricity.” He added: “This could also prevent voters residing outside Lebanon from exercising their political right preserved in the current electoral law by voting for their representatives in the electoral district designated for non-residents.”The president said that the amendments to the law deprive the right to vote from 10,685 citizens, who would reach the age of 21 between Feb. 1 and March 30, 2022. Zeina Helou, an elections expert, told Arab News: “Aoun is trying to pull strings in order to later accuse the other political parties of preventing him from carrying out the reforms he wanted.”
She added: “Aoun and his political team prefer to gain more time to conduct the elections rather than move the date up.
“Freezing the voter lists will deprive new voters who would soon turn 21 from the right to vote, and this may be a reason to appeal before the Constitutional Council.” Helou added that “the FPM fears that Christian voters who live in Greater Beirut will not go to the polling stations in their remote villages and towns in Akkar, in the north, the south, and Baalbek-Hermel, either because of the high prices of gasoline or because of the stormy weather in the mountains in March, and insists on Mega polling centers.”She noted that “this process requires a lot of time to be arranged, but I doubt that the rest of the political parties want these polling stations in the places where voters live because they lose the ability to control their voters and know who they voted for.”Helou pointed out: “The Shiite duo, Hezbollah and the Amal movement — unlike Aoun and his political team — do not fear the upcoming elections. Hezbollah does not derive its legitimacy from the elections but from its weapons and power. “Hezbollah is able to obstruct any parliamentary session, just as it is currently obstructing holding cabinet sessions until Tarek Bitar, the judge leading the investigation into the Beirut port blast, is removed. The second Hezbollah feels threatened, it will turn the tables.”Justifications for disrupting the elections in March may already be in motion, regardless of constitutional reasons that may or may not be taken into account. Helou told Arab News that FPM head MP Gebran Bassil — who has always wanted to become president — may benefit from the current developments and reap rewards elsewhere. Although the political parties believe it is still too early to discuss what the upcoming parliamentary elections will bear, Helou said that in 2018, the elections were held amid understanding and settlements between the political parties in power, while in 2022 they will be marked by tug-of-war and alliances. “The same parties could be re-elected and regain their seats in parliament, and we may see a low voter turnout for lack of convincing alternatives.”Next Tuesday, parliament is expected to either approve Aoun’s request, which requires the votes of 61 MPs, or appeal it before the Constitutional Council. Parliament could also introduce some amendments to the law, which requires the votes of half of the quorum plus one; if the quorum is 65 MPs, the law would need 33 votes.

Lebanon: Expediting Parliamentary Elections Threatens to Deprive 200,000 People From Voting
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 23 October, 2021
Lebanon’s Parliament approval to advance the date of the parliamentary elections to March 27, 2022, raises some questions about the impact of the decision on the electoral process and the number of new voters.
However, the parliament’s law requires the signature of President Michel Aoun, who still opposes the new amendments.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, MP Salim Aoun said that the president was studying the appropriate step to be taken in this regard, noting that if he signed the law, the parliamentary bloc of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) would challenge it. The CEO of Statistics Lebanon, Rabih Haber, told Asharq Al-Awsat that bringing the elections date forward “greatly affects the electoral process, because the electoral machines will not be able to complete their work.”He asserted that advancing the date of the elections would deprive a large segment of people, who are about to reach 21 years-old, from the right to vote. This is why the head of the FPM, former Minister Gebran Bassil, strongly opposed the amendment, according to Haber. “Around 200,000 people will be deprived of voting, and this number is very big,” Haber said, adding that official figures and data would not be released before the voters’ lists are completed.
However, Mohammad Shamseddine, researcher at Information International, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the legal period for holding the elections falls within the sixty days preceding the end of Parliament’s term on May 21. “Therefore, we cannot talk here about the elections being advanced; it’s an amendment to the deadlines,” he explained. Shamseddine added: “There will be no real impact on the ground if the date of the elections is brought forward. This will not affect the results of the elections.”A statistical study of the numbers of voters conducted by Statistics Lebanon in 2018 showed that 75.31 percent of new voters (493,220 people) were Muslims, compared to 24.68 percent (161,660) of Christians. According to Statistics Lebanon, Muslim voters constitute the majority in the districts of the governorates of the South, Nabatiyeh, Bekaa, and Akkar, while the districts are divided in the governorates of Mount Lebanon, North and Beirut. Muslim voters form the majority in Beirut’s second electoral district, the North’s second district, the Baabda District and the Chouf-Aley constituency, while Christian voters form a majority in Beirut’s first district and the North’s first district, as well as in the constituencies of Metn and Kessrouan-Jbeil. Haber asserted that any change of the date would have an impact on the elections. He added that the electoral parties of the civil movement were still preparing their lists. “The political forces are also not ready,” he underlined.

Two Years after Protests, Lebanon Activists Set Sights on Vote
Agence France Presse/October 23/2021
Two years after a now-defunct protest movement shook Lebanon, opposition activists are hoping parliamentary polls will challenge the ruling elite's stranglehold on the country. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese took to the streets from October 17, 2019 in an unprecedented countrywide and cross-sectarian uprising. Their demands were for basic services and the wholesale removal of a political class they accused of mismanagement and corruption since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war. But as the country sank further into economic turmoil, made worse by the coronavirus pandemic, what demonstrators called their "revolution" petered out. Many then saw a probe into the cataclysmic 2020 Beirut port blast as the best chance to bring down Lebanon's hereditary political barons, but even intense international pressure in the explosion's aftermath failed to make them change their ways. Last week, feuding parties turned Beirut into a war zone, with heavy exchanges of fire killing seven people in a flare-up sparked by a rally against the main investigating judge. Lawyer and activist Firas Hamdan is one of many to say that the elections, set for next year, will be a new opportunity for people to raise their voices against the authorities. "We tried everything -- protests in a single location and across regions, demonstrations outside the central bank and near the homes of officials, following lawmakers and officials into restaurants and coffee shops, and blocking roads -- but all to no avail," he said. Instead now "the parliamentary elections will be a pivotal moment in confronting the system -- even if not the final battle," he added. Hamdan said the polls would allow people to choose between those who want to actually "build a state," and a tired ruling class "that only knows the language of arms, destruction and blood."
'Move on'
It will be a "face-off between thieves and murderers, and citizens who deserve a chance at state building," said the lawyer, who was hit in the heart by a lead pellet at a demonstration last year demanding justice over the port blast. The protest movement has given birth to a clutch of new political parties, as well as attracting support from more traditional ones such as the Kataeb Party. Each has its own vision of how to achieve change, but all largely agree on the importance of the upcoming elections. Zeina El-Helou, a member of new political party "Lana" (For Us), said it was time to "move on from the nostalgia of throngs of people in the streets chanting" for change. Activists needed instead to work on "managing frustrations and expectations" for the future, she said. The political battle would be tough, as it opposed two sides of "unequal means," she said, referring to her side's limited financing or access to the traditional media for campaigning, and to gerrymandering giving establishment parties the advantage. The various opposition groups have yet to decide how they will take part in the upcoming polls, and some observers have criticized them for failing to coordinate their efforts effectively. Voters, meanwhile, are busy battling to get by on deeply diminished incomes, amid endless power cuts, price hikes and shortages of everything from medicine to petrol.
'First step'
Maher Abu Chakra, from the new grouping "Li Haqqi" (For My Right), said the polls would likely not change a thing but it was "important to take part.""It's a first step on the path to lasting change."But he too acknowledged the challenges. "When people's priority becomes making sure they can provide basic needs, they're less ready for confrontation" in politics, he said. Tens of thousands have been laid off or have taken pay cuts since the start of the crisis, and many people have been deprived of their own life savings, which have become trapped in the banks. In some cases, traditional parties have managed to wheedle their way back into voters' homes by giving them food, fuel or medication, or even paying their electricity or water bills. Hilal Khashan, professor of political science at the American University of Beirut (AUB), said the old political system was "still alive and well."The people, however, were suffering from "social fatigue" and had "understood change wouldn't be so easy," he said. Rima Majed, assistant professor of sociology at AUB, said people were leaving the country because they had lost hope in any political change. Fed up with constant blackouts and shortages, thousands of fresh graduates and better-off families have packed their bags and quit Lebanon in recent months in search of a better life abroad."It's deluded to believe that elections can change the system," she said.

Lebanon… The Framework is Stronger than the Rockets
Mustafa Fahs/Asharq Al Awsat/October 23/2021
One hundred years after Greater Lebanon’s establishment in 1920 and eighty years on from the country attaining its independence, in 1943, based on the Lebanese framework known as the national pact, which was built on the formula of equally shared representation between Muslims and Christians and left the country’s identity neither Western (to reassure its Muslims) nor Arab (to reassure its Christians)… we see new attempts to do away with the Lebanese political entity’s foundational framework and dominate it. However, every difficult juncture the framework has faced in the past and faces today, with the many attempts to destabilize it or undermine it, always runs up against the fortitude of its idea, even as it undergoes extremely turbulent phases.
The framework was undermined by the Left and the Right, and when the Left became Muslim and the Right Christian, they threatened its viability. The latter, considering itself to have founded the Lebanese system, proceeded to attempt to tailor it to its liking. As for the former, whose recognition was a requisite for the entity’s legitimacy, it proceeded to make several attempts at breaking it apart and piecing it back together per the new internal balances of power and foreign influence. Clashes between the two thus peaked with the civil war. They were represented, on the one side, by the Lebanese Front, which employed ultra-violent tactics to defend what it considered gains guaranteed by the framework. The other side was represented by the Lebanese National Movement, which demanded that the framework be amended and raised the slogan of taking up arms to defend the reformulation of the 1943 political system.
The two sides tried to swallow the framework and dominate the Lebanese system, dedicating all their political, cultural and military capacities to winning the battle. However, they both ended up losing, with both sides failing to vanquish the other despite the support from foreign actors they both received. The late President Bashir Gemayel could not impose his domination on the framework, and on the other side, Kamal Jumblatt couldn’t impose his vision on it. It also stood strong against the Palestinians’ support for the Left, leaving, in the end, Yasser Arafat outside the Lebanese equation, the subsequent “May 17 Agreement” nullified, and the Israeli army defeated.
In effect, the pre-1990 (the year the civil war came to an end) experiences demonstrated that the Lebanese formula, of Lebanon’s strength being its weakness, is the outcome of nothing other than the Lebanese framework’s formulation, in a manner that is to an extent acceptable, of sects’ limits. The crystallization of the state’s function stood strong against all the sectarian, ideological and armed factions’ projects. Even during peacetime, after the Taif Agreement was signed, the domestic and foreign powers that had taken part in drafting the National Accord Document, as well as the man tasked with implementing it, the late Prime Minister Rafic Hariri, recognized the difficulty of going beyond it. They understood the need to commit to the pact and equal power-sharing, as well as avoiding demographic change and being influenced by the sectarian groups that had been on the rise.
After the events of May 7, 2008, Hezbollah initiated the stage in which it would dominate the state and impose its hegemony on the state’s institutions. The Mar Mikhael Agreement reached with General Michel Aoun allowed the party to tame the framework and impose its force on it. It tried to replace the inclusive National Pact concluded between Beshara El-Khoury and Riad al-Solh with the exclusive Mar Mikhael Agreement. It has rearranged sects’ limits and their functions within its imagined state, which it has been able to engineer since imposing Michel Aoun’s presidency. Or that was the case until that presidency was hit with the setback of October 17.
On the eve of the insurgency, the Lebanese entity, regime and framework had been subjugated by Hezbollah’s abundance of force and subordinate to the party’s whims. Nonetheless, it was dealt an unexpected blow from the streets, and so it gradually showed its strength to maintain its influence. However, the August 4 explosion and its ramifications broke its powerful image and put its strength to the test. While arms guarantee the party’s ability to intimidate, its abundant strength stemming from its abundant supply of those arms has been constricted by two issues. The first is the port blast’s location and the demography of the people affected by it. The second is the sectarian makeup of the Lebanese judicial system, which has left Hezbollah incapable of containing the blast’s political implications or disrupting the course of the investigation because of the sensitivity of its location.
And so, from the port blast to the Tayouneh tragedy, Hezbollah is showing that it has not yet recognized that attempts to dominate Lebanon cannot succeed. It has not understood that the entity’s makeup, framework, and the roles played by its sects do not allow anyone to vanquish the other. All of those who had been tempted to do so by their superior strength paid the price for the adventurism, with all of those who preceded the party in giving in to that temptation failing to overcome the hurdles that came with it. The Lebanese framework has proven its fortitude, and it has forced its rivals to accommodate its structure. It has shown that disregarding it is almost impossible, as when we compare their force, it is stronger than rockets.

The bird in the hand
Ana Maria Luca/Now Lebanon/October 23/2021
The US might have sent a new envoy to solve the maritime border riddles between Lebanon and Israel, but for now, no one is really willing to go back to the almost impossible file, and Beirut would rather focus on the deal to import gas from Egypt through Syria.
The maritime border with Israel was the first thing Lebanese Prime-Minister Najib Mikati tackled with President Michel Aoun after his government was finally formed in September. It came even before the new government even had time to talk about the dire fuel crisis the country is facing.
Halliburton had announced it was hired to start drilling in the maritime area disputed by Lebanon, and Beirut complained to the UN about it. One day, and the whole matter was put to rest in Lebanon.
The negotiations on the maritime border with Israel seem to make headlines once in a while, but they may also be doomed to remain one of the forever unsolvable issues between Israel and Lebanon.
The truth is that, beyond all the efforts some diplomats may be willing to make and beyond the shuttle diplomacy by various US envoys, no one really means business in this matter. At least not for the moment and not until a game changing event that cancels the stalemate happens in the region or locally.
The US mediator for the indirect talks on the border demarcation Amos Hochstein was in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss the maritime border file with various Lebanese politicians before heading to Israel and Egypt. On Thursday, in an interview with Al Hadath, he said that if a deal takes too long, it doesn’t happen.
“I think that in these kinds of efforts what we’ve learned is that if you take a lot of time, it doesn’t happen,” he said. “So we need to be focused, and we need to move quickly.”
“Perhaps there should be some shuttle diplomacy first, in order to assess the positions of the parties to identify where there is room for negotiation and then ultimately, to go back to Naqoura and complete the negotiations,” he added.
But there is no moving quickly. Deals happen when the parties are really interested in making things happen. And, in this case, neither Israel, nor Lebanon are convinced that this is the way to settle the matter, nor that it should be in any way prioritized.
An inherited problem
The talks started in October 2020, one year ago, as a last effort by Donald Trump’s administration to score some foreign policy points – not many, but still. The fact that Lebanon agreed to sit for the negotiations, even indirectly, was indeed something, they must have thought.
But back then, Lebanon was at a different stage. The electricity system was still providing a few hours of power per day and the fuel crisis hadn’t begun yet. Although it was clear that the Lebanese powerplants would end up shutting down within months, there was no real alternative solution, and the gas in the Mediterranean seemed a farfetched, but at least somewhat possible, solution. Everyone knew it was going to take long and the process was going to be stalled by all sorts of deadlocks, even with Hezbollah staying out of the matter. The talks hit a bump in May, when Lebanon refused to negotiate on the map used by the UN. The Lebanese delegation said the demarcation line extended much further south. The disputed area was of 860 square kilometers in the documentation of the UN and Israel. Lebanon wanted 2,300 square kilometers, which include at least part of the Karish North field, where Israel had already found gas in April 2019. The Lebanese officials disagreed that there was any increase in their demands. Israel rejected the claims. That was the end of it.
Of course, in June, Israeli Energy Minister Karin Elharrar made that statement about getting creative. “Despite Israel’s strong legal case, we are willing to consider creative solutions to bring the matter to a close,” he said. But Lebanon is not really in the shape of getting creative. It needs help, it needs reforms, it’s facing collapse. Asking it to get creative was, if anything, a condescending, quite offensive remark. Nothing really happened until September 14, when Halliburton announced it was awarded a contract by Energean to start drilling in an area disputed by Lebanon. A day after the Mikati cabinet in Beirut was sworn in, all Lebanese politicians, including the PM and president Aoun, made outraged statements on the matter. Lebanon complained to the UN Secretary General. And, again, that was it. There isn’t much more Lebanon can do.
Nice to meet you, but…
In Lebanon, where the population is facing daily power cuts, lack of medicine, a crippling fuel crisis, and a quest for justice after the huge Beirut blast that has brought Hezbollah at loggerheads with the Lebanese Forces, Hochstein’s visit passed almost unnoticed. Even the usual critics who would have otherwise taken note that Biden’s envoy was born in Israel and also served in the Israeli army were not interested in making a fuss over it. They had bigger fish to fry locally.
On the Lebanese side, parliament speaker Nabih Berri told Al Shaq al Awsat on Thursday that his meeting with Hochstein was “more than positive”. A more than polite and diplomatic way of saying “sure, nice to meet you too”.
Judging by Berri’s interview, what occured during Hochstein’s visit was that the Lebanese side rejected the idea of shuttle negotiations suggested by the US instead of the indirect negotiations held at the UN base in Naqoura. In fact, he said, there was no real possibility of restarting the talks. No one was even considering it. Israel has no interest in settling anything with Lebanon in this regard either. It already pumps gas from offshore fields and it doesn’t really see an obstacle in the fact that the border with Lebanon is not set in …paper. Hochstein said resolving the border issue would help alleviate Lebanon’s power shortage by allowing it to develop its offshore gas resources. But that is quite far-fetched, since, due to the dispute, Lebanon hasn’t even had the chance to explore much.
For Lebanon, at the moment, a bird in the hand is more valuable. The biggest challenge is to keep the US committed to its promise to allow the country to import gas from Egypt and electricity from Jordan through Syria and temporarily and partially solve the much more stringent need for at least a few hours of electricity per day.  The birds in the bush – the great promise of oil and gas in the Mediterranean after settling the border with Israel – seem distant dreams of cornucopia that no one has time to dwell on right now. They are only brought up once in a while when in need of a political distraction.
*Ana Maria Luca is the managing editor of @NOW_leb. She tweets @AnaMariaLuca79.
The opinions expressed are those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOW.

Le peuple est nous et nous sommes le peuple.
Jean-Marie Kassab/Octobre 23/2021
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/103573/103573/
Ce qui est vrai est que les évenements de Tayouneh ont changé le cours des choses : Quelqu' un a dit " non" à l 'occupant et ses collègues hurlants de la milice Amal présidée par le chef du parlement Libanais Nabih Berry , auteur compositeur du slogan "Shia Shia ". Ce slogan scandé en toute occasion chaque fois que cette milice prend la rue et devaste tout sur son passage. Ils hurlent Shia Shia dans un état de transe collective , dirait-on des zombies. Le sous-jacent de ces hurlement est un cri de guerre: "Ayez peur , Ayez peur , les hordes Chiites arrivent; repliez vous , cachez vous, l'ouragan Chiite arrive". Du primitif , du brutal, du barbare, du médiéval. Mais en somme ils font beaucoup plus de mal à leur communauté en agissant ainsi et de loin.
Pire que l'exhibisionnisme de Nasrallah avec ses 100 000 zouaves, ces démonstrations de force ne font que fortifier la détermination des Résistants: Qui voudrait vivre sous le joug de tels énerguménes?
Ce qui est vrai aussi est que la situation économique ou sociale demeure catastrophique: Au lendemain des incidents, nous nous sommes reveillés aussi pauvres, aussi mal en point , toujours sans espoir et aussi anxieux que la veille et loin de pouvoir crier victoire.
D'ou la nécessité de s'unir, de créer un front unifié et solide indépendament des interêts personnels vis-à-vis d'élections utopiques pour raccourcir le chemin de la liberté.
La priorité absolue actuellement est de créer une assise sociale et populaire autour de cette Résistance nouvellement née et la soutenir par tous les moyens.
Le peuple est nous et nous sommes le peuple.
Vive la Résistance Libanaise.
Vive le Liban.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on October 23-4/2021
Iran, Syria, ‘fundamentalist Islam,’ on Bennett’s agenda in Russia
The Arab Weekly/October 23/2021
MOSCOW--Russian President Vladimir Putin reached for “common ground” in talks with Israeli Premier Naftali Bennett that touched on policies towards Iran, Syria, and Islamic extremism. After discussions held at Putin’s Black Sea residence in Sochi, Bennett hailed bilateral ties as “strategic” and emphasized the need to maintain an “intimate” dialogue with Moscow. Putin described Russian-Israeli ties as “unique,” noting that Israel is home to the largest Russian-speaking community. Russia and Israel have developed close political, economic, and cultural ties that have helped them tackle delicate and divisive issues, such as the situation in Syria where Moscow has teamed up with Tehran to shore up Syrian President Bashar Assad’s rule. “We will also talk about the situation in Syria, and the efforts to halt the Iranian military nuclear programme,” Bennett said at the start of his talks with Putin.
Putin said that Russia has been “making efforts to help restore Syria’s statehood and to strengthen it.” He noted that despite some problems regarding the situation in Syria, “there is also common ground and opportunities for cooperation, especially in terms of the fight against terrorism.” Bennett said on Facebook that he had an “excellent” meeting with Putin, adding that they discussed a wide range of issues, including “ways to deal with Fundamentalist Islam,” in talks that stretched over five hours. “Russia is a very important player in the region,” he said, noting that the relations between the two countries are “both strategic and almost daily, and we must maintain a direct and intimate line of dialogue.”Israel views Iranian entrenchment on its northern frontier as a red line, and it has repeatedly struck what it says are Iran-linked facilities and weapons convoys destined for Lebanese Hezbollah. The Iran-backed militant group has fought alongside Syrian government forces in the country’s civil war. Russia has waged a military campaign in Syria since 2015, helping Assad’s government reclaim control over most of the country. Moscow also has helped modernise Syria’s military, including providing Assad with air defense systems, and training its personnel. Russia and Israel established a military hotline to coordinate air force operations over Syria to avoid clashes. Israel often attacks Iranian-linked targets in Syria, while Russia has provided support to the Syrian government. In 2018, Russia-Israeli ties were severely tested by the downing of a Russian warplane by Syrian forces that responded to an Israeli air raid and mistook a Russian reconnaissance plane for Israeli jets. All 15 members of the Russian crew died. Moscow also has played a delicate diplomatic game of maintaining friendly ties with both Israel and Iran. In 2018, Moscow struck a deal with Tehran to keep its fighters away from the Golan Heights to accommodate Israeli concerns about the Iranian presence in Syria. Russia is one of the international parties that negotiated a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The deal fell apart after then-President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018. But President Joe Biden’s administration is now trying to revive the deal with other international powers — a step that Israel opposes.
World War II
Putin kept close personal ties with former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has repeatedly visited Russia. On Friday, Putin pointed to Russia’s “business-like and trusting relationship” with Netanyahu’s government and expressed hope that Bennett’s government would pursue a “policy of continuity” in Russian-Israeli ties. Bennett extolled the “great contribution” made by his country’s 1 million Russian speakers and emphasized “the deep connection between the two countries” while praising Putin for bringing them closer during his 20-year rule. “I can tell you on behalf of the citizens of Israel that we consider you a true friend of the Jewish people,” Bennett said. Bennett hailed the Soviet role in World War II and talked about a new museum in Israel that honors Jewish soldiers who fought in allied armies, primarily the Red Army. “It’s impossible not to appreciate the heroism of the entire Russian nation during those difficult years,” he said in remarks that likely resonated with Putin who cherishes his country’s decisive contribution to the victory over the Nazis.

Israel Draws Up Training Plan to Attack Military Targets in Iran
Tel Aviv - Nazir Magally/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 23 October, 2021
Israeli officials raised their rhetoric against Tehran, while the army leadership deliberately leaked the orders of the Chief of Staff, Aviv Kohavi, to the air force to prepare well to strike targets in Iran and set up a plan to start the exercise. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that confrontation with Tehran was inevitable and only a matter of time. The military correspondent for Israeli television Channel 12, Nir Dvory, revealed that Kohavi instructed the Israeli air force to resume training exercises on the possibility of attacking Iranian nuclear facilities, after such maneuvers were stopped two years ago. Dvory explained that revealing these exercises was not directed at Tehran alone, but also at the leaders of the United States and the West, who are still trying to bring Iran back to the nuclear agreement. Quoting Israeli military officials, the correspondent said that there was an Israeli, and perhaps an American conviction that it would be difficult to bring Iran back into the nuclear agreement without putting forward the real and effective military option backed by clear operations. Earlier this week, the Israeli government approved the allocation of 5 billion shekels (USD 1.5 billion) in the Israeli general budget, to be added to the army’s budget for the purpose of building a military capacity to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. Lieberman boasted of this decision, saying in televised statements on Thursday that a confrontation with Iran was imminent and was just a matter of time. “Any diplomatic process or agreement will not stop Iran’s nuclear program,” he stated. On the other hand, an Israeli official told the US Monitor website that there was a feeling of frustration in Tel Aviv “with the realization that the United States and Israel do not agree on the same goal, and that their strategic perceptions of the Iranian nuclear threat are fundamentally different.”
The official said that the talks between the US and Israeli national security advisers on Iran "were good… but in essence, the situation is bad.”He underlined the lack of a joint operational contingency plan against Iran in case efforts to restore the nuclear deal fail.

Iran Tests Drones Amid Tensions with Azerbaijan
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 23 October, 2021
The Iranian air forces launched a significant drill on October 21 involving several bases nationwide. The Iranian army's air forces commander, Brig-Gen Hamid Vahedi, said the exercise tested combat preparedness for bombardments and used domestically developed weapons, laser missiles, and smart bombs.
Iranian media said the maneuver was carried out with a centralized command that coordinated operational units of electronic warfare, surveillance, and information technology within one integrated system. They also showcased reconnaissance equipment, including an advanced locally-developed camera dubbed "Samat," The drill organizers did not specify a threat or name any country, but in recent weeks, Iran has been engaged in a bitter war of words with Azerbaijan. Iran has long expressed unease with Azerbaijan's close ties to Israel. Recent reports that Baku was planning to purchase an Israeli missile defense system stirred up old concerns in Tehran. Iranian leadership and commanders of the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued strongly-worded statements against Baku, saying the neighbor is allowing Israeli influence and plots to be implemented in the region, which Azerbaijan dismissed.
Last week, the Iranian and Azeri foreign ministers agreed on de-escalation, yet the two sides have still not taken practical steps toward that goal. Last summer, Azerbaijan was believed to have deployed a wide range of Israeli-made drones, which helped it gain the upper hand in its war against Armenia.
During the aerial exercise on Thursday, Iran said the focus was on testing and showing off multiple domestically produced manned and unmanned drones. Amid the ongoing tensions, both Iran and Azerbaijan are trying to boost ties with Russia, especially militarily.Recently, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian armed forces, Maj-Gen Mohammad Bagheri, visited St. Petersburg, where he reached "good agreements" with the Russian navy's Deputy Commander-in-chief, Vice Adm. Vladimir Lvovich Kasatonov. Iran's participation in future Russian drills was said to be part of those "agreements."
Russia maintains good terms with both Tehran and Baku and supports a policy of caution weighing its options before eventually tilting the situation in the Azeri-Iranian tensions toward the best of its strategic interests.

France Urges Iran to Curb Nuclear Activity, Resume Talks
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 23 October, 2021
France on Friday urged Iran to curb nuclear activities of “unprecedented gravity” as US and European envoys met to discuss efforts aimed at reviving the troubled 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
US envoy Robert Malley joined counterparts from France, Britain and Germany at the meetings in Paris, at what the French Foreign Ministry called a “critical time” in efforts to salvage the accord. “It is urgent and crucial for Iran to end the activities of unprecedented gravity that it is conducting in violation of the (agreement) and to immediately resume full-fledged cooperation” with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre said in an online briefing. In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters the US and its partners are “united in the belief that diplomacy continues to provide the most effective pathway to verifiably and permanently preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” “And,” he said, “we are united in the belief that negotiations should resume in Vienna as soon as possible and that they should resume precisely where they left off in June.”The IAEA is charged with monitoring the 2015 accord, which was aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions. The US pulled out of the accord under Donald Trump and re-imposed sanctions. Since then Iran has stepped up nuclear activity and is now in violation of several aspects of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, AFP reported. Iran’s nuclear activity includes enriching uranium which Western nations fear could be used to build an atomic bomb. Tehran denies any such ambitions. The US and European partners are ready to return immediately to negotiations with Iran “in order to swiftly conclude an agreement on Iran’s return to its commitments and the United States’ return to the JCPOA,” Legendre said. Iran’s new hardline government led by President Ebrahim Raisi, which took power in August, has hinted it will return to the nuclear talks in Vienna but has balked at setting a date.

US to Engage Israel over Designation of Palestinian Civil Society Groups as Terrorists
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 23 October, 2021
The US will engage Israel seeking more information about the designation of six Palestinian civil society groups as terrorist organizations, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Friday. Price said Washington was not given advance warning of the designation, a move that drew criticism from the United Nations and human rights watchdogs. "We will be engaging our Israeli partners for more information regarding the basis for the designation," Price said on a regular briefing call. Earlier on Friday, Israel designated six Palestinian civil society groups as terrorist organizations and accused them of funneling donor aid to militants. The designations authorize Israeli authorities to close the groups’ offices, seize their assets and arrest their staff in the occupied West Bank, watchdogs Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint statement condemning the move. Israel’s defense ministry said the six Palestinian groups had ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PLFP), a left-wing faction with an armed wing that has carried out deadly attacks against Israelis.Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek the territories for a future state.

Senior Qaeda Leader Killed in US Drone Strike in Syria
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 23 October, 2021
A senior al-Qaeda leader was killed in a US drone strike in Syria, the Pentagon said Friday. The strike comes two days after a base in southern Syria, used by the US-led coalition fighting ISIS, was assaulted. "A US airstrike today in northwest Syria killed senior al-Qaeda leader Abdul Hamid al-Matar," said Central Command spokesman Army Major John Rigsbee in a statement. There were no known casualties from the strike, he said, adding it was conducted using an MQ-9 aircraft. Rigsbee did not say if the US drone strike was carried out in retaliation to the assault on the Tanf base. "The removal of this al-Qaeda senior leader will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks," he said. At the end of September, the Pentagon killed Salim Abu-Ahmad, another senior Al-Qaeda commander in Syria, in an airstrike near Idlib in the country's northwest. He had been responsible for "planning, funding, and approving trans-regional Al-Qaeda attacks," according to Centcom. "Al-Qaeda continues to present a threat to America and our allies. Al-Qaeda uses Syria as a safe haven to rebuild, coordinate with external affiliates, and plan external operations," Rigsbee said.

870 ISIS Women, Children Repatriated from Syria
Qamishli - Kamal Sheikho/Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 23 October, 2021
Eleven Swedish nationals were repatriated from northeastern Syria in response to UN calls urging Western countries and governments to take back their citizens who have been living for years in the camps of ISIS families and fighters. The Swedish Ambassador, Fredrik Floren, received three women and eight children living in al-Roj camp in the countryside of Hasakah Governorate. They were sent to Kurdistan to be deported to Sweden, in the fourth extradition of foreign nationals this month after UK, Germany, Denmark, and Ukraine. The British Special Envoy to Syria, Jonathan Hargreaves, met last Tuesday with the head of Rojava’s foreign relations department, Abdulkarim Omar, in Qamishli. He received three children who had been living in Kurdish-controlled camps in northeast Syria. Last month, the UN launched a humanitarian appeal to Western and Arab countries and governments to address the situation of thousands of foreign children and families in detention centers and camps. “At least 42,000 foreign women and children, most under the age of 12, currently remain in squalid and overcrowded conditions inside camps in northeast Syria,” read its statement.
The Ukrainian government received several women and children from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fourth evacuation operation of its citizens. So far, Ukraine has repatriated 124 families who were living in al-Hol and al-Roj camps, and Kiev intends to bring back the remaining 11 families. The German government brought back 23 children and eight women earlier this month, while Denmark received 14 children and three women. Palestine also retrieved two children from Palestinian fathers who were members of the terrorist organization, becoming the third Arab country to bring back its nationals. In July, a Moroccan family managed to retrieve two children of their detained son in Syria in al-Hol camp after official approval from Moroccan King Mohammed VI. Sudan also retrieved a woman and several orphaned children during the same year. In July, the Autonomous Administration handed over to a Russian delegation 20 children of ISIS parents. Russia is among the first foreign countries to repatriate its citizens from Syria and has received more than 200 children and women to date. Earlier this year, the French government brought back seven children of ISIS families, bringing the total of nationals returned to their country from Syria since the elimination of ISIS to 35 children. Between March and June of 2019, 315 foreign women and their children were returned from the camps in Syria to their countries of origin. Last year, 239 children and 34 women were repatriated, while this year, 282 women and their children were deported, and many are still waiting to be evacuated.

Sudan’s Mass Protests Back Civilian Rule but Army Remains Strong
Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 23 October, 2021
Under a 2019 power-sharing deal after the ouster of long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir, Sudan is ruled by a sovereign council of civilian and military representatives tasked with overseeing a transition to a full civilian government. But cracks in the leadership are growing wider.
On Thursday, tens of thousands of Sudanese marched in several cities to back the full transfer of power to civilians, and to counter a rival days-long sit-in outside the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum demanding a return to "military rule".The two sides represent opposing factions of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), the civilian umbrella group which spearheaded demonstrations that led to the army's overthrow and jailing of Bashir. "The protests were an explicit rejection of the prospect of a military rule, and an emphasis that the transition to civilian rule remains the goal," Sudanese analyst Othman Mirghani told AFP. But, "despite their size, they have little impact on the political reality at play," he added.
'Divisions'
Critics have charged that the rival sit-in has been orchestrated by senior figures in the security forces, Bashir sympathizers and other "counter-revolutionaries". But it has drawn support from some of those hit hard by tough International Monetary Fund-backed economic reforms implemented by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, a former UN economist. Sudan's precarious transition has been marred by political splits and power struggles among factions at the helm of the transition. "The FFC's own divisions, that detract from their ability to govern, are making it easy for the military and the FFC breakaway group to point to poor performance as reason to dissolve the government," said Jonas Horner of the International Crisis Group. Even ministers within Hamdok's cabinet have expressed support for rival camps. On Thursday, Industry Minister Ibrahim al-Sheikh joined in Thursday's mass rallies backing civilian rule. On Friday, Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim -- an ex-rebel leader from Darfur, who joined the government after a landmark 2020 peace deal -- took part in Friday prayers at the pro-military sit-in. Volker Perthes, UN Special Representative to Sudan, stressed "the need to maintain the constitutional partnership between the military and civilian component" after meeting Thursday with the leader of Sudan's ruling Sovereign Council, military chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Perthes urged for a "return to dialogue and (to) build on achievements of the transitional period." 'Keep the military at bay' Tensions between the two sides have long simmered, but divisions ratcheted up after a failed coup on September 21. Popular support for the government led by Hamdok, who was picked in 2019 by a once-united FFC, has also waned over a tough raft of economic reforms that took a toll on ordinary Sudanese.
Delays in delivering justice to the families of those killed under Bashir, and even during the 2019 protests following his ouster, have left Hamdok vulnerable to criticism. And since mid-September, the government has been criticized for its handling of anti-government protests in the east -- resulting in a blockade of the country's key maritime trade hub of Port Sudan, triggering shortages nationwide. "Hamdok and the FFC have failed to meet people's expectations," said Mirghani. "Thursday's protests were not particularly backing them, as much as simply asserting revolutionary goals." The security forces -- including the regular Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the much-feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) -- have maintained a powerful hold, and are heavily involved in everything from outlining foreign policy to running lucrative companies. "The military -- both SAF and RSF - are newly determined not to relinquish their political and economic power," said Horner, but added that the main protests can still be a counterweight to their strength. "Popular opposition has, and can continue, to keep the military at bay," Horner said.

UNHCR Urges Libya to Urgently Develop Plan for Asylum Seekers, Refugees
Cairo - Asharq Al-Awsat/Saturday, 23 October, 2021
The UN Refugee Agency has urged the Libyan government to immediately address the dire situation of asylum-seekers and refugees in a humane and rights-based manner. Libyan Anti-Illegal Immigration Department on Friday said 128 migrants were voluntarily deported from Libya to their country of origin. Raids and arbitrary arrests by the authorities this month targeted areas largely populated by refugees and asylum-seekers that resulted in several deaths, and thousands detained. “Since the start of the security raids and arrests by the Libyan authorities in October, we have witnessed a sharp deterioration in the situation facing vulnerable asylum-seekers and refugees in Tripoli,” said Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR’s Special Envoy for the Western and Central Mediterranean Situation. “The Libyan authorities must come up with a proper plan that respects their rights and identifies durable solutions.”
“Many have been left homeless and lost all their belongings as a result of the security operation and are now sleeping in the cold and in a very unsafe environment. This is utterly unacceptable,” said Cochetel. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Doctors without Borders (MSF) said the raids, mostly targeting irregular migrants, left more than 5,000 detained. Since weeks, around 2,000 African migrants have been protesting outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees headquarters, demanding to deport them to a third country through the Voluntary Humanitarian Return program. The UN Refugee Agency has welcomed authorization to restart humanitarian evacuation flights but warns that it is not enough. “This is a positive development for some of the most vulnerable refugees, who have been waiting anxiously for many months to depart,” said Cochetel.

Senior al-Qaida Leader Killed in U.S. Drone Strike in Syria
Agence France Presse/Saturday, 23 October, 2021
A senior al-Qaida leader was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Syria, the Pentagon said.
The strike comes two days after a base in southern Syria, used by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, was assaulted. "A U.S. airstrike today in northwest Syria killed senior al-Qaida leader Abdul Hamid al-Matar," said Central Command spokesman Army Major John Rigsbee in a statement.
There were no known casualties from the strike, he said, adding it was conducted using an MQ-9 aircraft. "The removal of this al-Qaida senior leader will disrupt the terrorist organization's ability to further plot and carry out global attacks," he said. At the end of September the Pentagon killed Salim Abu-Ahmad, another senior al-Qaida commander in Syria, in an airstrike near Idlib in the country's northwest. He had been responsible for "planning, funding, and approving trans-regional al-Qaida attacks," according to Centcom. "Al-Qaida continues to present a threat to America and our allies. Al-Qaida uses Syria as a safe haven to rebuild, coordinate with external affiliates, and plan external operations," Rigsbee said. The ongoing war in Syria has created a complex battlefield involving foreign armies, militias and jihadists. The war has killed around half a million people since starting in 2011 with a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests.

U.S. Seeks to Contain Beijing Anger after Biden Vows Taiwan Defense
Agence France Presse/October 23/2021
The United States has sought to prevent an escalation with China, saying there was no change in Taiwan policy after President Joe Biden promised to defend the island from attack by Beijing. Tensions have soared in recent months as Beijing steps up air incursions near Taiwan, a self-ruling democracy that the growing Asian power has vowed one day to take over, by force if necessary. At a CNN televised forum in Baltimore on Thursday evening, Biden was asked whether the United States would come to Taiwan's defense if China invaded. "Yes," he responded. "We have a commitment to that."
Biden's statement appeared at odds with the long-held U.S. policy of "strategic ambiguity," where Washington helps build Taiwan's defenses but does not explicitly promise to come to the island's help in the event of war. The United States clarified Friday that it was still guided by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, in which Congress required the United States to provide weaponry to "enable Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.""The president was not announcing any change in our policy and there is no change in our policy," State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, reiterating earlier White House comment. "We will uphold our commitments under the act, we will continue to support Taiwan's self-defense and will continue to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo," Price said. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, on a visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels, declined to discuss "hypotheticals" but said the United States "will continue to help Taiwan with the sorts of capabilities that it needs to defend itself."
- New firmness? -
Beijing said that Biden's comments risked "damaging Sino-US relations," warning Washington on Friday to "act and speak cautiously on the Taiwan issue.""China has no room for compromise on issues involving its core interests," foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing.
The U.S. should not underestimate China's "staunch determination, firm will and strong ability" to defend against what it sees as threats to its sovereignty, Wang added. Price declined to reply to Wang's remarks, saying, "We have been nothing but clear when it comes to where we stand."
Strategic ambiguity is designed to deter a Chinese invasion but also discourage Taiwan from formally declaring independence -- something Beijing regards as a red line.Biden's comments were welcomed by Taiwan, which has pushed to bolster international alliances to protect itself from Beijing.
"The U.S. government has demonstrated, through actual actions, their rock solid support for Taiwan," Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang said in a statement. Biden made similar remarks in August during an interview with ABC, insisting that the U.S. would always defend key allies, naming Taiwan among them, despite the withdrawal from Afghanistan in the face of the victorious Taliban. Biden's remarks were unlikely to come out of ignorance. The veteran politician himself was serving on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1979 and voted to approve the Taiwan Relations Act.
Richard McGregor, a senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute, said Biden may have wanted to show greater firmness. "I suspect Biden was not trying to announce any change. So it was either loose language, or perhaps a slightly harder tone, deliberately adopted because of the way Beijing has increased the tempo of its military harassment of Taiwan recently," he told AFP.
- Warplane incursions -
China has ramped up economic, diplomatic and military pressure on Taiwan since the 2016 election of President Tsai Ing-wen, who views Taiwan as already sovereign and not part of "one China."Military pressure has escalated in the last year with China sending waves of fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers into Taiwan's air defense zone. According to an AFP tally, more than 800 flights have been made into the zone since September last year -- 170 just this month. Defending Taiwan, one of Asia's most progressive democracies, has become a rare bipartisan issue in Washington's otherwise deeply polarized landscape. At Thursday's live town hall, Biden was also asked by an audience member whether the United States would be able to keep up with China's rapid military development. Biden responded with "Yes.""Don't worry about whether... they're going to be more powerful," he said. "China, Russia and the rest of the world knows we have the most powerful military in the history of the world."Biden's comments come in the wake of a Financial Times report that China has tested a state-of-the-art hypersonic missile with nuclear capacity that flew around the planet before landing, albeit not on target.

Report: Foreign Aid Lost in Syria Exchange Rate Distortions
Associated Press/October 23/2021
Syrian President Bashar Assad's government benefited from variations in foreign currency exchange rates, boosting state coffers with at least $100 million in international aid money over the last two years, according to new research.The currency manipulation deprives Syrians, most of them impoverished after a decade of war, of much needed funds. It also allows the Damascus government to circumvent sanctions enforced by Western countries that hold it responsible for most of the war's atrocities. "Western countries, despite sanctioning Syrian President Bashar Assad, have become one of the regime's largest sources of hard currency," said the report published this week by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based research organization that focuses on international public policy issues."Assad does not merely profit from the crisis he has created," the report added. "He has created a system that rewards him more the worse things get." On Friday, the United Nations acknowledged that exchange rate fluctuations have had "a relative impact" on the effectiveness of some of the U.N. programs, particularly since the second half of 2019 when the Syrian currency took a nosedive.
Francesco Galtieri, a senior Damascus-based U.N. official, said his office received the report on Thursday. "We are are carefully reviewing it, also to openly discuss it in the coming weeks with our donors, who are as concerned as we are that the impact of the assistance to the people in Syria is maximized," Galtieri, team leader of the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, told The Associated Press in a written response.
The authors of the research published Wednesday said the amount of aid lost and diverted to Syrian government coffers as a result of the national currency fall is likely to be more than $100 million over the last two years. The data they used to calculate the amount was limited to U.N. procurement and does not include aid delivered through other international aid groups, salaries or cash assistance. Sara Kayyali, Syria's researcher with Human Rights Watch, called the findings shocking and said donors can no longer ignore the fact that they are effectively financing the Syrian government and its human rights abuses. She said U.N. procurement processes did not meet due diligence standards, from a human rights perspective. The Syrian pound has been hit hard by war, corruption, Western sanctions and, more recently, a financial and economic collapse in neighboring Lebanon.
Syria's Central Bank, which is sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury, obliges international aid agencies to use the official exchange rate - kept around 1,500 Syrian pounds to the dollar- while the black-market rate hovered around 4,000 pounds to the dollar. The Syrian government outlaws the use of unofficial currency exchange services. The official exchange rate has since been changed to around 2,500, leaving a gap of more than 30%, the report said. That is an automatic loss of about two-thirds of aid funds in the exchange rate transaction, the report said. For example in 2020, U.N. agencies converted a minimum of $113 million to procure commodities and services in Syrian pounds - which at the unfavorable exchange rate means $60 million in donors' dollars were being diverted, according to the report, which reviewed data published by the U.N. The lost dollars in 2019 are estimated at $40 million, bringing the total estimate to $100 million. Galtieri said most U.N. assistance is spent on procurement in international and regional markets. For aid spent in Syria, the U.N. and humanitarian partners have negotiated a "preferential" exchange rate up until 2021 to minimize the gap between the official and informal market rate and maintain value of assistance, he said. The preferential rate fluctuated with the informal market changes, Galtieri added.
The official exchange rate has been amended last year to 2,500 pounds to the dollar, but that still leaves a gap of over 30%. "We continue to engage with the Central Bank on this issue of preferential rate to maintain the maximum impact of our assistance," Galtieri said.
Syria's war, which was sparked by largely peaceful protests in early 2011, has killed between 350,000 and 450,000 people, displaced half of the country's pre-war population inside and outside Syria and left the infrastructure in ruins. Parts of the country remain under the control of opposition groups and armed rebels. The war in Syria has been described as one of the modern history's most brutal, rife with the use of indiscriminate barrel bombs, chemical weapons and torture. Aid and rights groups also complain that the Syrian government has long directed international aid to areas it considers loyal to it and used sieges around areas held by the opposition to deny them assistance. With support from Russia and Iran, the tide of the war has turned in favor of Assad, who has been in office since 2000 and was re-elected for another four-year term this spring.
In a boon to Assad and following years of isolation, a number of Gulf countries have re-opened their embassies. Jordan has restored direct flights to Damascus and Egyptian gas will go through Syria, which will swap it for its own to send to Lebanon.
"As donor fatigue sets in and needs continue to rise in Syria, ensuring every dollar reaches those in need will be more critical than ever before," the report said.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on October 23-4/2021
Syria: Geopolitical Tragedy
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al Awsat/October 23/2021
Desperately trying to retain a modicum of relevancy in the Syrian imbroglio, the United Nations has shaken an old ghost out of slumber to claim a few headlines. The UN Special Envoy on Syria Geir Pedersen has brought the so-called “Constitution Committee” out of its two-year hibernation to “start drafting for constitutional reform.”
Notice the words “to start”, “drafting” and “constitutional reform”. This means that after two years of real or imagined deliberation the committee is no further than the starting point. Even then, what is planned isn’t the actual writing of a new constitution but “drafting” unspecified “reforms” to a non-existent constitution. If this sounds like diplomatic gesticulation, don’t be surprised because it is exactly that.
To reduce the role that the United Nations could potentially play in helping bring Syria out of the current deadly impasse to mere gesticulation is regrettable to say the least.
Syria today isn’t a constitutional problem.
The tragedy that has claimed almost half a million lives and made nearly half of the population refugees or displaced persons wasn’t caused by a defective constitution and won’t be concluded with a constitution dreamed by Pedersen ad is associates.
The truth is that Syria has ceased to have effective existence as a nation-state. At the same time, however, it cannot be regarded as a classical “ungoverned territory” because different chunks of it are under some measure of governance by foreign powers and their local surrogates and allies.
That makes Syria a complex geopolitical problem that cannot be solved with pie-in-the-sky legalistic gambits.
Today, Syrian territory is under some measure of control by five different players.
One segment is run by Russia, partly through private security companies, with the remnants of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime as its local façade. Another segment is controlled by Turkey and its local Muslim Brotherhood allies. The United States and some NATO allies control a third segment with support from local ethnic Kurds. The Islamic Republic of Iran and its Afghan, Pakistani, Iraqi, Syrian and Lebanese “foreign legions” control a fourth chunk. The last chunk is held by the remnants of the ISIS and former foes turned allies among anti-Assad groups.
The five segments have been tuned into laboratories for different, at times diametrically opposed, experiments in political organization. In the Russian-controlled sector one still finds an echo of the typical military-security based Arab despotism that was backed by the now defunct Soviet Union during the Cold War.
As long as it can keep its military presence, notably bases on the Mediterranean, Russia isn’t interested in political engineering in Syria. President Vladimir Putin is also determined not to allow Syria to become a base for exporting terror to parts of the Russian federation where Muslims form a majority.
Putin is persuaded that with the possible exception of Turkey, all other players in Syria are bound to drop out or be pushed out of the game sooner or later. Helped by frequent Israeli air raids on Iranian positions, he is already paving a path with banana skins for Iran which has begun to reduce its footprint in several locations.
Putin may be wrong in thinking that the US is also preparing to quit Syria. Such a move would have been more likely under Donald Trump or if President Joe Biden hadn’t been stung by his fiasco in Kabul.
Putin regards his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan as his only worthy partner in deciding the future of Syria. Turkey has a national security interest in creating a buffer zone along its border and preventing the emergence of an autonomous Kurdish enclave in Syria.
While Pedersen and his group have been hibernating Putin and Erdogan have discussed a new constitution for Syria on a number of occasions, most recently in a summit in Sochi. Putin wants a secular constitution for Syria with no mention of a state religion.
Erdogan, however, insists that if a state religion is to be mentioned it should specify the Hanafi version of Sunni Islam. Yet, that would mean antagonizing Syria’s Nusairi (Alawite) Ismaili, Ithna-ashari, and Druze minorities not to mention Christian communities.
The two leaders also disagree on the issue of an official state language being mentioned in a future constitution. By casting himself as protector of Turkic minority in Syria, less than one per cent of the population, Erdogan wants Turkish to be recognized as one of the official languages along with Arabic but is vehemently opposed to granting Kurdish, language of some four per cent of Syrians the same status.
For its art the Islamic Republic in Iran has offered musings of its own on a putative Syrian constitution. Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, the man in charge of propagating the Iranian brand of Shi’ism in Syria, proposes the creation of a new “Fatimyoun” identity which would encompass the Iranian brand of Shi’ism along with the Alawite, Ismaili and Druze faiths. However, the scheme faces a hurdle in the form of traditional Shi’ite authorities in Qom and Najaf still considering the Syrian sects as heretics.
The United States, for its part, doesn’t seem to have any long term view of what it is doing in Syria. President Trumps sulkily expressed desire to withdraw from Syria dealt a big blow to local Kurdish and other allies of the United States.
Trump, however, quickly backpedaled, and has been followed on that by Biden, at least for the time being. Nevertheless, what is still lacking is a clear American strategy for reviving Syria as a nation-state, the only outcome that can contribute to regional peace and help the long-term interests of the United States and its allies. Without US leadership the European powers won’t be able to play the crucial role they could and should claim in helping end the Syrian tragedy.
By ignoring the geopolitical aspect of the Syrian problem and by limiting the Syrian people’s involvement in shaping the future of their country to a few Assad pawns and a handful of self-styled opposition figures, the UN may be making a double mistake.
If Syria is recognized for what it is, that is to say an ungoverned territory, the UN’s role would have to help restore sovereignty to the Syrian people who should have the final say on how they wish to be governed and by whom. And that can’t be done by diplomatic gesticulations in a hotel suite in Switzerland.

A JetBlue Jihadist? The Great Press Cover-up
Chris Farrell/Gatestone Institute/October 23/2021
If we are trying to ascertain motive in a situation like this, shouting "Allah" would seem to be a key detail. That potentially moves the incident from "disturbed passenger freaks out over failed phone connection" to "jihadist tries to commit suicide attack." It does not prove the latter case of course, but it does make it part of the conversation.
However, you would have to go to the FBI affidavit to get that detail. The Washington Post write up of the incident, clearly based on the affidavit, went so far as noting that El Dahr "yelled in Spanish and Arabic" but omitted that he was shouting about Allah -- despite the obvious news value in that detail.
Granted there could be a variety of reasons why El Dahr was invoking his supreme being. But there is only one reason for not reporting it -- deliberately to obscure a possible tie to Islamic radicalism.
If a radical Islamist hijacked an airplane, we might never know it was an act of terrorism. That is, if we rely only on the mainstream media. Case in point: On September 22, Khalil El Dahr, a passenger on JetBlue Flight 261 from Boston to Puerto Rico, suddenly rushed to the front of the aircraft, choked and kicked a flight attendant, and tried to break into the flight deck. (Image source: Anna Zvereva/Wikimedia Commons)
If a radical Islamist hijacked an airplane, we might never know it was an act of terrorism. That is, if we rely only on the mainstream media.
Case in point: On September 22, Khalil El Dahr, a passenger on JetBlue Flight 261 from Boston to Puerto Rico, suddenly rushed to the front of the aircraft, choked and kicked a flight attendant, tried to break into the flight deck, and urged crew members to shoot him. It took a half-dozen flight attendants to restrain El Dahr, tying him down with flex cuffs, seat belt extenders and a necktie. On landing in Puerto Rico, El Dahr was arrested and charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants, a federal crime.
What was El Dahr's motive? Authorities have not released their findings yet, but we know some facts from an affidavit filed by FBI Special Agent William Lopez. El Dahr had attempted an in-flight phone call and "became angry about the call's unsuccess." About twenty-five minutes later he rushed the cockpit, struggled with flight attendants, speaking in "Spanish and Arabic," and "one point during the incident, they were able to understand EL DAHR say Allah in a raised tone."
If we are trying to ascertain motive in a situation like this, shouting "Allah" would seem to be a key detail. That potentially moves the incident from "disturbed passenger freaks out over failed phone connection" to "jihadist tries to commit suicide attack." It does not prove the latter case of course, but it does make it part of the conversation.
However, you would have to go to the FBI affidavit to get that detail. The Washington Post write up of the incident, clearly based on the affidavit, went so far as noting that El Dahr "yelled in Spanish and Arabic" but omitted that he was shouting about Allah -- despite the obvious news value in that detail.
Granted there could be a variety of reasons why El Dahr was invoking his supreme being. But there is only one reason for not reporting it – deliberately to obscure a possible tie to Islamic radicalism.
This is hardly the first time that the media and even the government have downplayed evidence of a motivation related to Muslim extremism. Take the "workplace violence" narrative that was pitched about US Army Major Nidal Hasan's terrorist attack at Ft. Hood in 2009 in which he shot and killed 14 people and wounded 33 others. Despite describing himself as a "Soldier of Allah" and with copious evidence of the motivation and intent of his murderous plan, the official Defense Department review was silent on any factors related to his radicalization.
Earlier, when 2002 Washington, D.C. sniper John Allen Muhammad left a cryptic note to police saying "I am God ... Allah" only the "I am God" part was reported. When married couple Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik shot up a San Bernardino Christmas party, killing 14 people and seriously wounding 22, headlines told us the motive was "unclear"-- until it came out that they had spent a year planning the attack as a part of a commitment to "jihad and martyrdom."
Again, we cannot jump to the conclusion that El Dahr was a terrorist motivated by radical Islamist ideology, even though his actions fit exactly the M.O. that Al Qaeda pioneered two decades ago. What is at issue here is the propensity for news organizations to conceal possible terroristic motivations -- but only of a certain type. Naturally if El Dahr had been a white guy raving about election fraud, COVID vaccinations or Trump 2024, there would be 24-hour coverage of the threat posed by "white rage" and "domestic terrorism," and calls for tight travel restrictions against real or suspected members of the opposition party.
Freedom of Information Act requests with the relevant government agencies will hopefully uncover more about this incident, including what the government knows about El Dahr, his background, his motives, and who he was trying to call while on JetBlue Flight 261. In other words, true investigative journalists will work to uncover facts that the Washington Post's "mainstream journalists" should be uncovering but do not, because they are apparently afraid of what they might find.
*Chris Farrell is Director of Investigations at Judicial Watch and Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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The Houthis, like other Islamist groups, are destined to fail
Saleh Baidhani/The Arab Weekly/October 23/2021
In a conversation with a group of friends about the reason for the failure of Islamist currents when at the helm of the state, I argued that these these groups are designed to be in the opposition, as their followers are instilled with a culture of the rejection of existing states. One that is built on undermining state institutions. Once in power, they are unable to deal with any new realities other than through the prism inculcated in their minds.
And the issue is not limited to the Islamist currents in the Sunni camp, such as the Muslim Brotherhood. The issue encompasses all ideological groups, including Shia Islamist regimes in their Khomeinist incarnation, which we saw in action and failing abjectly while managing the affairs of state in Iran, Iraq and then in Yemen at the hands of the Houthis after they took control of the state in an armed coup. In September 2014, the Houthis seized control of the capital, Sana’a, under two pretexts. The first was to dismiss the government and implement the outcome of the National Dialogue Conference and the other was to scrap the price hike of oil derivatives introduced at that time for economic reasons.
After their military takeover, the Houthis revealed a completely different face than the one they tried to depict. They turned into a laughing stock in Yemen as the prices of oil derivatives increased more than a tenfold after they established their own black markets and imposed levies of every shape and hue, stopped paying salaries and deepened poverty in all areas under their control.
Such groups do not come to power except through violence and among the ruins of the state. They do not flourish except in conflicts and wars, and the accompanying religious and sectarian strife and populist slogans, as is the case today in Yemen.
The Houthis justify all their failures by war, which they ignited in the first place, although they call the counter-offensive to reverse their takeover of power an “aggression”. Nobody in the Yemeni street, where people suffer starvation and repression, buys their flimsy arguments anymore.
Whoever observes the way the Houthis deal with all initiatives aimed at bringing peace and putting an end to war, including those that meet many of their own objectives, now fully realises that this group does not believe in peace nor does it want it. Through war, they can achieve many of their ideological goals and mobilise society in the manner of the “Islamic Revolution in Iran”, the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Popular Mobilisation Forces of Iraq. All these are in fact branches of the same thorny tree planted by Khomeini, which withers and falls when not irrigated with blood and tears. This is what the self-described “axis of resistance” does not want, as it resists the people’s yearning to be free from conspiracy theories and illusions of empowerment.
Despite what seems like a state of euphoria that the Houthi group and similar groups in the region are going through, this project has no elements of continuity, given that it completely contradicts life and inhibits all the constructive capabilities of peoples and states. This project favours ideological illusions and contradicts the logic of reason. It is only necessary to take a look at the state of popular ferment and the growing rejection of its models in Tehran, Baghdad, Beirut and Sana’a to ascertain that the seeds of the demise of these groups have been planted. The ramifications of this project in terms of oppression, domination, ideological violence and deceptive slogans, that are used to silence opponents, are just passing phenomena that cannot last for long.

US, EU: Take note, protect Bitar and Lebanon takes a step to overcome its crises
Hanin Ghaddar/Al Arabiya//October 23/2021
The clashes that took place in Beirut’s neighborhood Tayyoneh last Thursday exposed tensions about Judge Tarek Bitar’s investigation into the Beirut port blast and its revelations. Guns are now being used to stop the path for truth and justice.
Unswayed by the violence, Bitar is holding his ground and is supported by the public’s popular opinion. But, he is at serious risk of physical harm. Hezbollah object to his appointment and remit, claiming he is biased. The terrorists will block the search for accountability at every opportunity. The situation and call to arms will escalate.
In the foreground to this, it’s clear that Bitar does not have proper protection, aside from generic statements of support. What are words when bullets start flying? The support of the Lebanese public, and the trust and backing from the committee of the families of the port blast victims can offer Bitar the moral support he needs, but not the protection. In a statement the European Union condemned the use of violence in Thursday’s clashes, and expressed its condolences to the families of the victims and called for restraint. “The EU reiterates that the investigation into the 4 August 2020 Beirut Port blast needs to be completed as soon as possible,” the statement affirmed, but there was no mention of any diplomatic or punitive measure to protect Bitar.
Meanwhile, the United States urged for calm with US State Department spokesperson Ned Price calling for a “de-escalation of tensions.”
At the moment two opportunities have presented themselves that can offer protection to Bitar, or at least push local authorities to aid his personal security and that of his investigation.
Lebanese security forces react to gunfire during a protest in Beirut,
While the clashes were taking place in Tayyouneh, US Under-Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was in Beirut where she had a press conference stating that the United States will offer an additional $67 million to support the Lebanese army. The LAF has become dependent on US security assistance to maintain its unity and mission.
The US could use this as a leverage to pressure the army and its leadership to protect Bitar and make sure the victims’ family members are not harmed. Earlier in the year the EU adopted a legal framework for sanctions that can target Lebanese individuals and entities. The EU said that the new protocols will provide the ability to impose sanctions on those responsible for undermining democracy or the rule of law in Lebanon. This can include travel bans and asset freezes, with EU persons and entities now forbidden from making funds available to those listed. The criteria in place that permits the application of sanctions includes corruption, obstructing efforts to form a government, financial misdeeds and human rights abuses. A deadline of “end of the summer” was given to the Lebanese political establishment with the impetus for them to start making the reforms required.
Nothing meaningful has happened. It is time to introduce these sanctions against those undermining democracy and accountability, and those attacking and defying the rule of law in Lebanon. Applying targeted sanctions can support protection of Bitar and the port blast investigation.
The EU’s policy towards sanctions has always been to consider their use as a last resort, and when every other strategy has failed. Their need now is in little doubt. There are many positives to take from offering proper protection to Bitar. Obviously his personal safety is the priority, and then along with securing the safe passage of the work he is carrying out. But going beyond the port investigation, allowing the public to witness a judicial process and people being held accountable for their actions, without fear or favor, will begin to rebuild trust in state institutions.
Bitar is brave, but by pursuing the rule of law of the country his fearlessness will help the public to understand that what appears as a series of insurmountable challenges facing Lebanon, can in fact be solved. From parliamentary elections falling apart, to the fear of assassins with a list of new targets not being held to account, keeping Bitar safe will bring hope to the people. A strong judicial system can deal with many problems. Strengthening state institutions, accountability, and Lebanon’s overall stability fall under all of the goals set by the EU and US, to bring the country out of the dark. It does not have the luxury to wait. The country is facing the worst collapse – political and economic – since its inception. It is time for action, and protecting Bitar will emphasize to the Lebanese people that the wheels are finally in motion, and he will make groups and individuals accountable for their actions.